‘People are sleeping on Bangalore like crazy’: Entrepreneur compares city to San Francisco

Hardeep Gambhir, an entrepreneur, highlights striking resemblances between Bengaluru and San Francisco in a series of social media posts.

Published on: Jun 26, 2024, 14:13:33 IST

By Yamini C S

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An Indian-origin entrepreneur recently took to social media site X to draw parallels between Bengaluru and San Francisco. Hardeep Gambhir, founder of The Residency, shared several aspects of Bengaluru that he found reminiscent of the silicon valley.

Gambhir, who returned to India after seven years in the San Francisco Bay Area, was impressed by Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport. He highlighted the efficient 'Uber Zone' system: “Instead of booking an Uber and finding it, you simply book an Uber and go to the first car in the queue of cars, tell your PIN to the driver and off you go to your destination. No waiting time,” he wrote.

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He was also taken aback when an auto-rickshaw driver responded to him in English. “I was expecting to speak a bit of Hindi here this summer and surprisingly when I first spoke Hindi to an Auto-rickshaw driver, I got replies from him in English. Turns out Bangalore is the city with English as the most spoken language in India. I was so surprised by this,” he added.

Gambhir praised Bengaluru's vibrant start-up scene, comparing HSR Layout to San Francisco's Hayes Valley. He also commended Bengaluru's rapid commerce services such as Swiggy Instamart, likening it to "Walmart delivery in 4 to 7 minutes, available 24x7."

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Additionally, he noted the low carrier charges in India and the availability of mobility services like Yulu electric bikes, drawing parallels with San Francisco's Lime, Veo, and Baywheels bikes.

Gambhir also discussed Bengaluru's affordability, emphasizing the significantly lower cost of living compared to San Francisco. Despite praising the city's pleasant weather, he did mention two downsides: “mosquitoes and ridiculous security deposits for renting.”

“I highly recommend for someone curious about another country's startup ecosystem like SF to come visit here. Also, the e-visa should take 3-5 days to get fully remote. Oh, not to mention. Uber is shit cheap,” he posted.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yamini C S
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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